Waterproof fabrfc



UNITED STATES PATENT Orricn.

WILLIAM H. .VVOOD, OF EAST ORANGE, AND JOHN H. STEVENS, OF NEWARK, NEW JERSEY, ASSIGNORS TO THE OELLULOID COMPANY, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., A CORPORATION OF NEW JERSEY.

WATERPROOF FABRIC.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 603,001, dated April 26, 1898.

Application filed February 1 2, 1 8 9 8.

T a'ZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that We, WILLIAM H. W001), of the town of East Orange, and JOHN H. STEVENS, of the city of Newark, county of Essex, and State of New Jersey,have invented a new and useful Improvement in Waterproof Fabrics, of which the following is a specification.

It is Well known that among the many so- 10 lutions or mixtures with which fabrics like cloth and paper have been coated or saturated for the purpose of rendering them Waterproof pyroxylin solutions have received considerable attention. Pyroxylin compounds have been more or less successfully applied to cloth and paper, with the result of forming Waterproof fabrics useful in themselves and also for the making of various articles of trade.

For instance, Louis Oornides, in English Patent No. 7&5 of 1855, says: For saturat ing and coating or covering leather, paper, and textile fabrics I employ a solution of explosive cotton in wood-spirit or 'pyroxylic spirit or alcoholized ether, and in some instances I combine therewith india-rubber, gums, resins, bitumen, drying-oils, fish-oil, colors, and tan.

Rollason, in English Patent No. 2,849 of 1858, instead of impregnating the fabric with liquid solutions of pyroxylin attached a pyroxylin film. He said: I dissolve pyroxylin in any of its known solvents producing collodion, and to this solution add vegetable oil, by preference castor-oil. This solution I pour upon the smooth plates of glass ormetal and allow the spirit to evaporate. If I intend to employ the tissue as a coating for Woven fabrics, such as silk, I lay the silk upon the tissue and roll between rollers, and having produced a perfect adhesion of the silk to the Serial No. 670,082. (No specimens.)

gum, such as gum-animi, balsam of aniseed,

or oils, such as linseed, nut, or castor, and having poured or otherwise placed the same into a polished surface of glass or metal I allow it to become quite dry. Upon this collodion 5 5 or its compounds when so dry I brush or pour a cement of gum-arabic, dextrine, or of a nature similar to these, upon which again,when sufficiently dry, I place my painting or photographic or other material, having previously Wetted or moistened the same.

Alexander Parkes, in English Patent No. 2,359 of 1855, also applied waterproofing solutions of pyroxylin in various ways. He said: 1,1186 the collodion of guncotton alone or 6 5 with gums or resins that will set transparent with it, and this is applicable as a coating to silk, tinsel articles, other textile fabrics, sewing-cotton, thread, Worsted, string, felted goods, leather, plaster, or Wood, rendering 7o them Waterproof. I also use coloring agents or metallic bronzes with solutions of guncotton for waterproofing and coating other articles, such as paper, (he. When manufacturing sheets from solutions or preparations 7 5 of guncotton alone or combined with indiarubber gutta=perchaj or otlier"""s ubstances, ancrwhether colored or not, I prefer to use a thick solution and with spreading machinery similar to that used in the manufacture of india-rubber. I spread the preparation in the well-known manner until I obtain the de: sired thickness. I alsonahesheets plain or colored y P u e o uti n. onto. si s plates," plain or etched, and, if required, several coats of collodion or dissimilar substances may be used to liifilllhh$115321 $1 9. s.

zfsoi'trt'ron'ofgiittaj-fpercha purified, as def. scribedin my'patent of 25th day of March, 18%, one coat being allowed to dry before the 0 other is applied. I also manufacture thick sheets of a compound nature by cementing several sheets together, which maybe of dissimilar substances-thus, a sheet of collodion and then a sheet of cloth, then another sheet of collodion, dad-or I saturate felted goods with my preparation of guncotton.

This has been substantially the state of the art, although other inventors have elaborated this particular manufacture, as is shown by numerous other patents. For instance, articles like shoes, gaiters, leggings, coats, waterproof suits, trunks, bags, covers for the seats and backs of sofas and chairs, sails for vessels, saddles and harness, tents, hats, caps, &c., and other articles of wear or use-such as book covers, hospital sheets, tobaccopouches, curtains, and washable articles have been made or proposed to be made from fabrics waterproofed with various compounds having pyroxylin as a base. This has been set forth especially in Lewthwaits English Patent No. 741 of 1868 for Applying and utilizing parkesine. The fabrics have been made plain and ornamented. They have been embossed and printed upon. They have also been colored with pigments, dyes, and bronzes and ornamented with sheet metal. Fabrics have been made of all thicknesses and made of dissimilar materials, like sheets of collodion alternating with sheets of paper and cloth. As the quotations show,the fabrics have been partially and entirelyimpregnated with a waterproofing solution, or it has been simply laid on the outersurface either in the form of a liquid paste or dried sheet. N ot withstanding all that is known on this subject numerous difficulties have opposed the operator in attempting to meet the demands of trade. One of the most important of these difficulties comes from the demand for a flexible coating which at the same time will have a non-adhesive surface. Flexible solutions, as a rule, are adhesive and attract dust and dirtgvhich is difficnlt to remove, or they allow objects to adhere to them. This is an annoyance and hinders their use. If the waterproofing preparation used is sufficiently hard to be non-adhesive or of the right smoothness to the touch, it is liable to crack or is found to be too stiff for bending into shapes, as when corners of articles are covered with the waterproof fabrics. It is also more difficult to sew. This has necessitated the greatest care in the study of the ingredients and the preparation of the mixtures, which is necessarily accompanied with considerable loss due to defective work. These difficulties we have overcome by the use of dissimilar pyroxylin solutions. We obtain the requisite flexibilityby first coatin g the cloth or paper or other fabric with a solution having sufficient oil or other suitable substances-say, for instance, castor-oilto give it the proper degree of softness. We then apply successively one or more coats of a solution stiff enough to be non-adhesive, by which we mean a solution capable of giving a film or coat which when dried is flexible, but at the same time is not tacky or sticky. \Ve find that the use of these dissimilar coating solutions enables us to get any degree of flexibility, in combination with the requisite surface hardness.

It has been customary to use one particu lar solution of a given flexibility and then depend on the fabric for the other properties. A lack of attention to the surface qualities has restricted the application of these coated fabrics".

In regard to the proportions necessary to make the dissimilar solutions of our invention this is well understood. The proportions depend largelyupon the solubility of the pyroxylin as to whether it is a soft easilysoluble pyroxylin, and therefore easilymade flexible, or whether it is a pyroxylin of great strength, which requires more solvent and oil and solvent to give it the requisite softness. This and the nature of the solvents areunderstood by the operator in this art.

The essence of our invention is the employment of successive coatings of solutions which are dissimilar as to flexibility. For instance, if the proper degree of surface hardness or the right surface feeling for the particular use described is obtained by the use of one and one-half parts of castor-oil to each part of the pyroxylin in the solution employed the proper flexibility for the whole can be obtained by making the under coating of the same solution contain more oil-for instance, from two to three parts of the oil; but, as already explained, dissimilar coatings as to flexibility can be made without varying the proportion of oil, but by variation of the nature of the other ingredients present. For instance, two coatings containing exactly the same amount of castor-oil will present difierentdegrees of flexibility and adhesiveness if one is made with a strong pyroxylin of difficult solubility or the other contains a soft easily-soluble pyroxylin. There are other ingredients besides oils which impart flexibility. This is well understood, and is fully set forth, for instance, in such patents as those granted to Alexander Parkes and Daniel Spill. The coated fabrics made in this way are susceptible of being pressed, embossed, stretched into shape, sewed, and 0therwise used, as is the case with the former fabrics, which were coated with one solution only; but our improved fabrics present, as before stated, any degree of flexibility, together with the proper surface hardness desired in any particular case.

In speaking in the specification of the first coating to be applied We mean the application of a pyroxylin compound of sufficient limpidity to penetrate and permeate partially or wholly the fabric to which it is applied, although, technically speaking, it need not be in such amount or consistency as to completely cover the fabric with a continuous unbroken pyroxylin surface and thus form a covering for the same. It is sufficient if the solution first applied furnishes the pyroxylin foundation upon which the subsequent and less flexible coatings are to rest.

Having thus described our invention, what we claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. A waterproof fabric having two or more successive coatings of a flexible pyroxylin compound, the under coating Jbeing more IIO pound of the character described, which coating has an inner stratum rich in oil, and an outer stratum less rich in oil which forms a continuous surface covering the face of the I5 base, substantially as described.

WILLIAM H. WOOD. JOHN H. STEVENS).

\Vitnesses ABRAHAM MANNnRs, BERNARD EBERZ. 

